Reflections on another year

Apologies for the blogging “Me” nature of this post. Next post I’ll try to be blogging “You”.

This time of year is when, I believe, the new year starts. For one, it’s when I always used to go back to boarding school or university after a long summer of playing sport, working, seeing friends and generally having a good old craic. The school year is indelibly tied to this time of year and I don’t think I’m the only to still have one foot in the past.

For two, it’s my birthday today. One year older, one year wiser.

So what’s gone on this year? As I’m now married, it’s certainly not just about “me” any more

We bought our first condo.

I got my second ever promotion (to Account Director).

We bought our first car.

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary.

Those are some pretty big life events. It’s been a pretty big year for my beautiful, talented, amazing wife and me.

The weird thing about getting older is that every year you get closer and closer to the person you are, and (usually) further and further from the person you want to be. Bad habits become ingrained and those virtuous things that you promise yourself you’ll turn into a habit, become harder and harder to incorporate.

While that is definitely happening to me in some regards, in others it couldn’t be any more wrong.

When I was 19, I was sure I wanted to be a lawyer. When I was 19, I was sure I wanted to be a political consultant. When I was 24, I was sure I wanted to an investment banker or management consultant. Now that I’m (gasp) 29, I am sure that I want to be where I am.

I work in a field that I’m passionate about, with like minded people who I actually like. I get to do incredibly interesting and complex work with talented clients that has a huge impact on their business. I have a creative outlet that allows me intellectual stimulation and I’m part of a community that challenges me every day.

My ambition and craving for knowledge continue unabated and the will to win, either in business or in sport (or any sort of competition for that matter) shows no signs of going away. Although it is morphing a little. I’m finding it ok that winning doesn’t have to be a big event, it can be a longer term thing and that in itself is making me less frustrated in not making that big splash straight away. I’m definitely starting to see the longer game.

So all in all, life is good right now. I’m excited to see what the next year will bring. Hopefully a driving license to go with the shiny car sitting in our parking space…

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 5:50 pm and is filed under Real Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Great post Ed, happy birthday. As someone who has also recently settled into a new rewarding job and joined the ranks of the married, I find your comments both incredibly familiar and incredibly inspiring.

And do I get bonus points for knowing what “having a good old craic” means?

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Everything posted on this blog is my personal opinion and does not necessarily represent the views of my employer or its clients. DDB is a global agency so any mention of any organisation could be a conflict of interests but not one that I can disclose.